WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Apr. 21
KRISTINE CATO
Loyola Marymount
In non-conference action, LMU picked up a pair of home wins to improve on their program best record of 24-4. They improved to 10-1 at home this season with an impressive 8-4 win over No. 13 UC Irvine and a 14-4 win over Pomona-Pitzer. Freshman goalie Kristine Cato has been named the WWPA Player of the Week for leading the Lions to their 10th win over a ranked opponents. In just over three quarters of play, she allowed just two goals while making 15 saves. She added an assist and a steal in the win.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Apr. 14
MELISSA FISHER
Colorado State
Colorado State probably made the biggest statement thanks to the program’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent, defeating No. 17 UC San Diego, 8-4. The big win against a WWPA foe was led by freshman goalie Melissa Fisher, who has been named the WWPA Women’s Player of the Week for April 14. She played in all four games at The Bronco Invitational at Santa Clara appeared in all four games for the Rams, making 30 saves with eight steals over the weekend. In the UC San Diego contest, Fisher had 9 saves and allowed just four goals. She added a pair of steals in the program’s big win.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Apr. 7
TRISTAN KENNEDY
Cal State East Bay
Cal State East Bay topped the 20-win mark for the season with a pair of wins last week, including an 11-9 win in WWPA action against CS Monterey Bay. Junior driver Tristan Kennedy led Cal State East Bay in the two wins to earn Western Water Polo Association Player of the Week honors for April 7. Kennedy scored six goals, including four in the conference win over CSUMB. She added four assists, four steals and two drawn ejections in the two wins.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Mar. 31
KIRSTEN BATES
UC San Diego
Kirsten Bates was locked in over the weekend for the Tritons as she scored a team-high 12 goals in the Tritons’ four games during the tournament, finding the net at least once in each contest to earn WWPA Player of the Week honors for March 31. Bates turned in a career effort against Sonoma State on Sunday, scoring seven times to lead UCSD to a convincing 15-6 win. She also had seven ejections drawn in Bakersfield. She also tallied a pair of goals in the 10-8 overtime loss to fifth-ranked Hawaii on Thursday.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Mar. 24
CASEY FLACKS
Loyola Marymount
Sophomore Casey Flacks led the Lions to a four wins over the weekend, including wins over No. 14 San Diego State and No. 20 Princeton to earn Western Water Polo Player of the Week honors for March 24. Flacks finished the weekend with eight goals, seven assists, 10 kickouts drawn and two steals. She had a career-best five goals in the win over Sonoma State and led the Lions with four kickouts drawn in the win over San Diego State.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Mar. 17
KAITLIN TORRES
Cal State Bakersfield
The Roadrunners rank 18th and were led by Sophomore Kaitlin Torres with 15 goals over a five–game span to earn Western Water Polo Player of the Week honors for March 17. She was the lone Roadrunner to score in every game. She began the weekend with four goals in a 10-7 loss at No. 9 Loyola Marymount. She added four goals in each of CSUB’s two wins on Saturday, including an 11–10 overtime upset over then–No. 18 ranked Princeton and against Marist at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational. Torres opened play Sunday with a pair of goals in a 9–4 win over Wagner and scored added one goal against No. 14 San Diego State in the weekend finale. On the season, Torres leads the team with 53 goals (2.12 gpg).
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Mar. 10
STEPHANIE HEINRICH
UC San Diego
In the win over Santa Clara, Stephanie Heinrich led the Tritons with four goals and an assist while also drawing two ejections to earn Western Water Polo Association Player of the Week honors for March 10. Heinrich leads UCSD with 42 ejections drawn and is second on the team with 23 goals.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Mar. 3
CHRISTINE CATO
Loyola Marymount
Taking top honors for the week, including the Western Water Polo Association Player of the Week for March 3, is LMU goalie Kristine Cato, who finished the four-game weekend at the UCI Invitational with 56 saves, an average of 14 per game. She had a career-best 16 against UC Irvine. She allowed only four goals against CSUN, making 13 saves, including one on a penalty shot. She added two assists and two steals.
WWPA CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - Feb. 24
LAUREL STRICKLIN
Sonoma State
The Seawolves have not been shy, including this weekend at their own tournament, the Seawolf Splash as they took on three ranked teams in their four games, including No. 4 UCLA, No. 15 UC Davis and No. 19 CS East Bay. Despite the tough task, senior Laurel Stricklin went on to score 15 goals over the weekend, including a record eight in the overtime setback to CSUEB. The performance has earned her WWPA Co-Player of the Week for Feb. 24. She is one of the league leaders in goals, scoring 31 so far this season.
ANNE SCOTT
Loyola Marymount
LMU remained the highest ranked team in the WWPA at No. 7 thanks to a 10-4 win in conference action over UC San Diego on Saturday. Senior Anne Scott, who last week did not play for the Lions as she was swimming in the PCSC Championships and earn Swimmer of the Year honors, returned with a five-goal performance against the Tritons. She was also named WWPA Co-Player of the Week for Feb. 24. The All-American a year ago, leads the Lions in goals this season with 14, adding three assists, three steals and three field blocks.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Feb. 17
CLAIRE PIERCE
Cal State East Bay
Cal State East Bay made some noise both in WWPA action and nationally thanks to posting a 3-1 record at Cal State Bakersfield’s Roadrunner Invitational I. The Pioneers went 3-0 against WWPA competition and defeated a pair of teams earning votes in the nation’s top-20 poll, including the 17th-ranked Roadrunners in their home pool, 10-9 in overtime. Because of it, the Pioneers find themselves ranked in this week’s National Coaches’ Poll, ranking 19th. With the success, Cal State East Bay improves to 4-4 on the season, 4-1 in WWPA action and 2-2 against teams in the top-20. Leading the way was this week’s WWPA Women’s Player of the Week Claire Pierce. The freshman utility had seven goals, four assists, eight steals and drew an amazing 24 ejections in wins over No. 17 CSU Bakersfield, Santa Clara and Colorado State.
WWPA PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Feb. 10
KIMBERLY BENEDETTI
Loyola Marymount
Player of the Week honors for Feb. 10 goes to LMU’s sophomore Kimberly Benedetti, who helped LMU back within the top-10 with three wins over ranked opponents and the tournament title at the UCSD Triton Invite. Benedetti finished the weekend leading the Lions with 11 goals, including four against No. 15 UC Davis. She finished with a 78.6 shooting percentage and added four kickouts and an assist as LMU starts the season 4-0.
